http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== *Illustration Gallery* *Astronomical Artefacts and Portraits, etc* *The illustrations on this page have been compiled from a variety of sources. If advised that copyright has been infringed I will immediately remove the particular illustration(s).* The obverse of K 8538 (drawn by the British Assyriologist Leonard King (See /CT 33/, (1912), Plate 10) and corrected by Johannes Koch (1989)) in the British Museum, London. This Assyrian star map (commonly referred to as a "planisphere") was recovered from the library of King Assurbanipal in Nineveh and is dated to circa 800 BCE. (The city of Nineveh was the last of the successive capitals of Assyria.) It is a circle divided by radial lines into 8 equal sectors. The eight lines radiating from the centre of the circular tablet have the intention of defining eight equal stellar sectors of 45 degrees each. (First pointed out by Fritz Hommel.) Unfortunately considerable parts of the planisphere are missing. The reverse of the tablet is not inscribed. The intact parts comprise (1) cuneiform writing naming stars and constellations, and (2) points and diagrams (the drawn shapes include arrows, triangles, intersecting lines, and an ellipse) comprising schematic drawings of 6 stars and constellations. The constellations depicted in each sector are drawn as dots (representing stars) connected by lines. The stars and constellations shown (counterclockwise from bottom) are identified as: Sirius (Arrow), Pegasus + Andromeda (Field + Plough), [Aries], the Pleiades, Gemini, Hydra + Corvus + Virgo, Libra. Thus the circular star map divides the night sky into eight sectors and illustrates the most prominent constellations. Leonard Kings description of the "planisphere" in /CT 33/, (1912), Page 6, includes: "The planisphere is circular in shape, with a slightly rounded Reverse, the Obverse being flat and surrounded with a raised edge or rim; it has been partly vitrified and some parts are missing. The flat portion of the Obverse, within the rim, is evidently intended for the heavenly sphere, and is divided into eight equal sections. The geometrical diagrams or figures within the sections apparently represent constellations, the lines in most cases joining or enclosing stars, their positions being indicated by large of small holes impressed in the surface of the clay; the triangular impressions possibly represent stars of a greater magnitude. Some of the notes, which have been added by the scribe, give the names of the stars or constellations; others evidently refer to particular portions of the sphere, and in one place give measurements in figures. The majority of the diagrams are purely geometrical, but one, which is partly preserved and is labelled ..., was possibly intended to represent a bird." The reason for a division of the celestial sky into 8 parts is unclear. (It may be that it was comprised of the four cardinal quadrants north, south, east and west, and the four midpoints of such.) In ancient Mesopotamia the number 8 had considerable significance. The practice of dividing celestial space into 8 sectors is held by some scholars to be quite old. (It was practiced in ancient Mesopotamia, India and China.) The depictions of Venus on kudurrus from the time of king Melishipak II (Cassite period, circa 1188-1174 BCE) are 8-pointed. Similarly, on kudurrus from the same period, the solar disk is depicted with four axis points and four solar rays intercalated. A later cuneiform tablet records the Assyrian king Sargon II (721-705 BCE) proclaiming that "in all the sides opposite to the eight winds, I opened eight great gates." The purpose of the planisphere is also unclear. In their 1880 study of the planisphere Archibald Sayce and Robert Bosanquet concluded that it had largely an astrological and calendrical purpose. In his detailed 1915 study of the planisphere (in /Handbuch der babylonischen Astronomie/) the Assyriologist Ernst Weidner concluded that it had both astronomical and astrological significance and was probably a magical tablet used in exorcisms. However, he remained puzzled about the sensible meaning of the repeating syllables along the 45 degree lines. In /A Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities/ (British Museum, 1922) K 8538 is explained as "an astrological instrument for making astrological calculations and for casting nativities." Whatever the actual use, the circular star map illustrates the most prominent constellations. Weidner's 1915 study was the last serious study of K 8538 until the detailed 1989 study by Johannes Koch in his book /Neue Untersuchungen zur Topographie des babylonischen Fixsternhimmels/ (Chapters 7-16). Koch suggests that the disk should be rotated to a particular position for each sector, which then literally pictures the heliacal rising or setting of the constellations involved as they were visible above the horizon of Niniveh circa 650 BCE. The results of Koch's explanation of K 8538 challenges a number of the traditional identifications of Babylonian constellations. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Gary D. 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